Coz You're Safe (Like Spring Time)
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Will definitely has a favourite season. Byler. Oneshot.


**Oh, I just adore these two together. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the title, which comes from _Lucky Strike _by Troye Sivan. **

Will Byers didn't like winter.

He didn't like the cold and the ice and the bite in the wind. He didn't like having to bundle up in so many layers that he practically doubled in body weight. It always snowed, although it was only enough to look grotty and muddy on the side of the road, never enough to look like pretty—like the winter wonderlands he saw on TV in some of the towns and cities around them. There had been some winters when he was younger when they hadn't had enough money to have heat running, and so they all had to bundle in blankets and multiple pairs of socks and hot water bottles, and while his mum and his brother tried to make it into a game, the older he got, the more he knew that it _wasn't_.

His dad had left them through winter as well, so there was that.

Things were better now, even better since Sheriff Hopper and his foster daughter, Jane Hopper, had moved in with them.

Jonathan Byers had a part time job and Will sometimes helped out around the grocery store where his mum worked when things got really busy, which meant that her boss gave her bonuses, and they always had money to run the heating through winter. Hopper had also fixed up a couple of things around the house that had been worn down, or broken, and last winter, there had been three weekends in a row where Hopper, Jonathan and Steve Harrington had been putting in extra insulation in the ceiling and the walls.

Well, Hopper and Jonathan had been busy packing in the insulation, Steve had made attempts to help, but mainly he just kept them company with running commentary of Nancy Wheeler trying to teach Mike Wheeler to drive a manual, practicing in the driveway of the Byers-Hopper abode, finally managing to ease the car into second gear and starting to circle around the house, before he panicked and stalled it.

Will didn't like summer either, though, and generally that was the way it worked. If you didn't like one extreme, you liked the other. But summer was too hot, and he burnt too easily, and even though he liked going to the river and swimming with his friends, he had to spend half the time getting out of the water to slather on sunscreen. He hated his shirts getting sweaty and sticking to his back and the mosquitoes that came out and gave him bites all over his legs.

Jane, better known as El, didn't like winter, same as Maxine Mayfield, but that was because they both loved summer. They liked running around in shorts and loose shirts with their all piled on top of their heads in braids. Nancy liked summer as well—and he was pretty sure Steve and Jonathan liked summer too, because she wore tiny dresses that showed off her legs and back.

Jonathan preferred winter though, he liked being all bundled and drinking hot chocolate, and taking pictures of his girlfriend and boyfriend in their scarves and beanies. So did Hopper and Mike and Lucas Sinclair.

Dustin Henderson liked autumn, because he liked when things were getting a bit damper and there was mud that he could kick his feet through, and it was still warm enough to wear shorts, with just a light jacket over the top. Joyce Byers also liked the autumn, sitting on the porch of the house with a coffee, watching as the leaves were turning orange and beginning to fall and coat the ground in a thin layer of rust-coloured vegetation.

Will liked spring.

He liked as the icy breeze of winter finally began to relax, and it shifted to something a little warmer, but still cold enough that he could keep his favourite scarf wrapped around him.

He liked as the forest around his house turned from it's drab, brown and olive colour to a fresh green as the trees began to fill with new leaves and bright blues and purples as flowers bloomed along the ground.

He liked as the sky turned from it's grey and constant cloudy state to something more blue and cheerful, the sun coming through and warming the earth below it.

Spring was fun.

Spring was warm.

Spring was familiar.

Spring was hopeful.

It was in spring that Mike told Will that he loved him.

It was in spring that Mike held his hand, fingers linked together.

It was in spring that Mike punched Troy Wich in the face because he called Will a loser.

It was in spring that Mike kissed Will for the first time.

It was in spring that Will finally told Mike that he loved him back.

Nearly eight years to the day after they had first gotten together, when they were coming back to Hawkins to visit. They had graduated university the year before and they were both living in Chicago. Nancy and Steve had been living in New York for close to three years, Nancy had studied there and Steve had moved to live with her in her second year and had started working in a bank that his father had connections with. Jonathan had moved to New York just before Will and Mike did, to move in with Nancy and Steve. He hadn't wanted to leave Hawkins as soon as they had, wanting to make sure his mother was okay, wanting to make sure _Will_ was okay, but even after Will left for university he was still around. El and Max were the closest to Hawkins, in Michigan City, Max working as a gym teacher at a high school and El was working as a social services officer, loving her job even though she got very attached to the younger people that she worked with.

Everyone was heading back to Hawkins for a long weekend, something that Joyce insisted on every couple of months.

There was always a nostalgic feeling when they came back into Hawkins, and Will was quiet as he looked out the window, his hand on Mike's leg, fingers tangled with his boyfriends, as Post Malone played quietly on the stereo. Mike tightened his grip around Will's fingers, glancing over at him as he flicked on the indicator to turn to the street to the Byers home, and then looked back out the front window. As they drove up to the house, they noted there was already a silver Mazda parked outside, which meant El and Max were already there, and Hopper's sheriff's vehicle was around the side beside Joyce's little RAV4, Dustin and Lucas had text and said that they had been picked up by Hopper at the bus station about half an hour, which meant that almost everyone was here already.

Except for Nancy, Steve and Jonathan, but Nancy had a late shift in the city, so they weren't going to be flying in until tomorrow morning, and Karen Wheeler was going to pick them up and bring them to the house after she had caught up with them.

El came out of the house, shouting and waving excitedly at them as they pulled up, Mike parking his car beside El and Max's. She wrapped her step-brother in a tight hug before he had even gotten out of the car properly, and Will laughed into her shoulder and long hair. After she was done nearly squeezing all the breath out of him, she moved onto Mike, who _completely_ towered over her, and she tucked in under his chin. El had always had a soft spot for Mike, and Joyce had mentioned to Will a few years ago that her and Hopper had been pretty sure that she had a crush on Mike when they were all teenagers. Now, though, she was very happily together with Max, even if it had taken the pair a few years to admit to each other that they were more than best friends.

Joyce insisted on hearing_ every single thing_ that had happened to them since the last time they had caught up, over the Christmas and New Years period, and so the boys were stuck inside for a few hours, unable to escape the kitchen. El and Max had already been subjected to the loving interrogation, so they were in the lounge, curled up together on an arm chair and watching old _Friends_ re-runs. Hopper had given them a sympathetic grin when he had come into the kitchen to give Joyce a kiss and had said that he would be back in a few hours, he needed to go down to the station to check on a few things.

It was nearly six in the evening, after dinner, that Will and Mike finally managed to get away. They snuck out of the house as Joyce was roping El and Max into doing the dishes, and quickly headed into the forest. Even if they didn't live here anymore, this place was built into their DNA, they would always know this place like the back of their hands—this place would always be _home_.

They walked, hand in hand, the spring breeze ruffling through the long curls of Mike's hair that was brushing at his shoulders now, and Will couldn't help the little bounce in his step. They reached the river, somewhere that they had all—Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, El and Max—come through their childhood and teen years. Mike wasn't as fussy as Will, and he didn't care about getting his sneakers wet, so while Will stayed on the worn-smooth rocks, watching as Mike kicked up the shallow water and skimmed a few stones over the surface. The sun was setting over the trees in the distance and Will found a fallen log to sit in, watching as the sky changed colour, tipping his head back and breathing in the familiar smells of home. When he opened his eyes again, Mike was standing right in front of him, a gentle smile on his face.

Will smiled back, feeling this incredible calming sensation washing over him, the same feeling he got _whenever_ he was with Mike.

He felt calm and strong and ready for anything.

Although he hadn't been prepared for the little box that Mike pulled out of jacket pocket and held it in front of him.

Will's eyes went wide as Mike managed to kneel down, finding a surface that wasn't too hard on his knees and propped the velvet box up in front of him. He popped it open, and inside was a titanium band with a darker gray band circling the middle. It was simple and not particularly expensive, given they were only twenty-four, two years out of college and neither of them with particularly healthy savings accounts.

But it was perfect.

And it was in Hawkins.

And it was Spring.

And it was _Mike_.

The ring fit on Will's finger with ease and he lunged at Mike, who toppled over backwards, landing firmly on his ass on the smooth rocks. He let out a breathless laugh as Will straddled him, the smaller boy circling his arms around his neck and smothering him in kisses, repeating one word over and over and over again.

"_Yes_."

**Let me know what you think x**


End file.
